The Foundation
We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.
The Team
Group Summary
The Global Development Division includes a diverse range of program areas aimed at finding creative ways to ensure solutions and products get into the hands of people in low-income countries who need them most. We focus on areas with the potential for high-impact, sustainable solutions that can reach millions of people. A common theme across these programs is a focus on innovative delivery, including an emphasis on strengthening primary health care systems. The Division also encompasses our India Country Office (ICO). Our Program Strategy Teams work in close partnership with the Country Office Teams to align the foundation’s health and development agenda with the government’s broader priorities.
Division Summary
Our efforts are aligned with India’s objectives of improving the lives of its people - working closely with India’s Central and State governments, we partner with nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, the private sector, community groups and development organizations, to achieve our shared goals. Our strong networks and ability to convene intellectual resources from many sectors and every region of the globe allows us to address complex challenges as they emerge or evolve.
Our efforts in India focus on key issues that will affect the future of India’s most vulnerable communities: reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition; urban sanitation; agricultural development; gender equality, and digital financial inclusion. With a particular focus on Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, we work with partners to develop impactful and sustainable solutions to improve the quality and coverage of key services for the poor and vulnerable. We also work in other states to support programs in urban sanitation, agricultural development, women’s economic empowerment, health systems design, public financial management, state capacity and inclusive financial systems.
The Team
The State Systems and Public Finance (SS&PF) cluster leads the ICO’s work in state capacity, public finance, health systems design, and a labour market approach to HR for health. Our goal is to empower government institutions in being able to carry out their functions effectively, and to leverage government channels for reform at scale. Our goal is that the ICO’s sectorally focused work in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition; urban sanitation; agricultural development; women’s economic empowerment, and inclusive financial systems, is informed by cross-cutting issues of government effectiveness, and can be tested and scaled via government channels. Our approach is to help systematically strengthen core departmental functions which enhance state capacity to deliver on sectoral goals and improve the transition and sustainability of the technical support we provide to governments, so that reforms are not episodic but sustained through stronger institutional and state systems.
Your Role
The Program Officer - State Systems will support the ICO’s strategy to strengthen the state systems approach by making available tools that enable governments to credibly promise and deliver improved outcomes for citizens at scale. Despite numerous sectoral reforms and flagship programs, many state systems remain constrained by fragmented decision-making, siloed data systems, weak performance management, and rigid financial and administrative processes that limit adaptability and accountability. These structural challenges affect the state’s ability to deliver coordinated, high-quality services in health, nutrition, gender, sanitation, agriculture, and inclusive financial systems.
The Program Officer will work across multiple states and sectors to co-create scalable models for institutional reform, focusing on human resource management, public financial management, and digital governance in service of the foundation's programmatic goals. This includes designing and managing strategic investments that build tools to enable performance management, strengthen core departmental functions, and reduce friction in service delivery. The role involves translating complex system problems into actionable reform strategies, building coalitions and ensuring that successful models are institutionalized and sustained through strengthened public systems. Ultimately, the postholder will play a catalytic role in strengthening state systems - shifting from fragmented, siloed, reactive implementation to coordinated, data-driven, and citizen-centric governance.
The postholder will be based at the foundation’s ICO office in New Delhi, and report to the Deputy Director, State Systems & Public Finance.
What You’ll Do
1.Strategy, Program Design & Execution
Contribute to strengthening state systems and diffusing successful models and practices that result in scalable, sustainable impact.
Translate systems challenges into well-scoped investment opportunities and high-quality, risk-mitigated grants or contracts.
Support the development of theories of change, results frameworks, learning questions, and adaptive implementation pathways for state systems initiatives.
Ensure alignment of investments with broader foundation goals and ICO strategy.
Conduct diligence, budgeting, risk assessment, and compliance monitoring across assigned grants.
2.Stakeholder Engagement
Build and manage trust-based relationships with stakeholders.
Engage key ecosystem stakeholders—development partners, think tanks, donors, and technology partners—to enable co-creation and collective action.
Represent the foundation in key strategic dialogues, working groups, and convenings on state systems.
3.Knowledge, Learning & Data-Driven Decision-Making
Collaborate with foundation colleagues to ensure high-quality results frameworks, monitoring, and evaluation of grants and use of data to improve program performance and to inform future investments
Use data and learning from foundation-supported investments and global evidence to collaborate with grantees and other partners to ensure continuous learning that shape approaches to public services.
Work with grantees and partners to track progress against learning agendas and ensure robust monitoring, evaluation, and course correction.
Your Experience
Master’s degree in public policy, public administration, economics, development studies, management, or a related field.
Minimum 7-10 years of relevant experience in a high-performing, results-oriented environment - such as consulting, government advisory, think tanks, development agencies, or philanthropic organizations.
Experience working directly with government systems at a national or state level, is strongly preferred. In-depth knowledge of public sector systems, change management, digital tools, and monitoring, evaluation and learning is required.
Strong communication and change management skills, with experience in managing senior public and private sector stakeholders, including building consensus and securing buy-in.
Impactful work driving system transformation at large scale beyond direct span of control. A track record of translating systemic gaps and other challenges into strategic action plans to strengthen state systems, and promote the implementation of scalable and sustainable interventions, models and practices.
Experience in engaging government, donors, and implementing partners, and to handle partnerships effectively.
Demonstrated ability to work in a highly matrixed and diverse work environment, with strong collaboration and diplomacy skills.
Proven ability to manage high-return, risk-mitigated grants, with clear achievements and outcomes.
Excellent analytical thinking and communications skills, including writing, summarising, conceptualisation and preparation of presentation materials and public speaking skills. A strong command of spreadsheets and proficiency in the use of AI tools is strongly preferred.
Performance driven and self-motivated with ability to inspire the pursuit of excellence. Comfortable navigating ambiguity, and evolving challenges with flexibility, efficiency, while maintaining a solution focused approach.
Other Attributes
Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behaviour with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
Ability to travel up to 40% of the time domestically and internationally.
- Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.
Application deadline: 8 August 2025
Hiring Requirements
As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.
Candidate Accommodations
If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process
Inclusion Statement
We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.
All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.
